Cold Storage
by popcornfairy
Summary: A solar flare left earth an irradiated wasteland. To survive humanity decide to sleep it out in cryostasis leaving behind robotic caretakers, the AVIDA, to protect earth and find humanity a new place to call home. The AVIDA do just that and after 700 years humanity awaken to a new future they could only dream about. The only problem is they're stuck in an interstellar war.
1. First Contact

**Authors Note:**

**Originally started as a really weird crack idea, but after a while of thinking I began to think about it some more and then Walla I wrote a story. Be warned this is a big AU story, so if you're not into that sort of thing you should probably read something else.**

**EDIT: Just finished finals, decided i start cleaning up spelling and grammar errors now that I have the time.**

* * *

**Prologue**

In the year 2064 the sun, what was once earth's greatest source of life became earth's greatest source of death. The star fell into a session of extreme solar flaring as if it had fallen into a midlife crisis. The scientists of humanity calculated and debated until finally, a realization occurred. The largest solar flare in earth's history since the Hadean era would hit earth, stripping its atmosphere and hereby incinerating all life on the surface of the planet. Humanity didn't have the technology to leave and there was nowhere else to go. To survive the nations around the world banded together and devised a plan. Humanity would sleep in cryostasis in large underground bunkers dubbed the Genesis Ark with archives of biological data and the entirety of human knowledge leaving behind mechanical drones called the AVIDA to guard, protect, and create a new home for humanity on a new rejuvenated earth or elsewhere.

The AVIDA were nothing more than programs on a server that controlled drones and a complex array of factories. Humanity lacked the time to develop a fully a program complex enough to follow their designated prime directive and so instead relied on a kind of digital artificial natural selection to produce programs capable of solving complex tasks. Over centuries of self-replication and recombination the AVIDA became sentient, but they kept their directive in mind. With their newly acquired intellect, they ventured forth to find humanity a new home.

They first started with assessing the conditions of earth. The planet was nothing more than an irradiated ball of ash reduced to a primordial soup, multicellular life on earth wouldn't return until millions of years later when earth's chaotic star cooled and returned to normal. The AVIDA didn't have the technology to contain the sun's mighty fury and instead they turned their attention to Mars. The red planet that was once a cold, barren rock was warmed with the new and hotter sun. It was in the perfect condition to support life save for its weak atmosphere. The AVIDA knew that this planet would become humanities new home.

They lead an expedition to the planet and upon arrival they begin the process of transforming Mars into a new earth. There they find the prothean ruins and with it they increase their technological prowess. Eager to fulfill their mission they soon find the Charon rely leading to the wider galaxy. They venture forth to create a new home for humanity among the stars.

* * *

**2720- Galactic Standard Time, AREV- Kalinni **

Stations, ships, and colonies repeatedly reported ships of similar design and unknown in origin passing through the Attican Traverse. The Kalinni happened to be in the same area and so her directory was altered to an unknown star system where the sighting of the mysterious fleets of ships were the most prevalent. Now the ship was in orbit around the garden world planet Ria-3442b, that at the moment was sprawling with machines building some sort a structure that was altering the planet's atmosphere. The expedition vessel had only one last mission to fulfill before returning home to Thessia, much to the delight of the crew and its captain. The old matron had longed to see her home again, life among the stars while at times was gratifying it was also tiring and monotonous very much like how it was now.

" They haven't responded sir, " replied one of the ensigns on the bridge. The Kalinni was in orbit for the past four days sending first contact messages after first contact message and was receiving no response.

The alien's ships passed them by and landed on the surface of the planet as if the Kalinni wasn't even there at all. These alien were irritating, they get contacted by the most influential species in the entire galaxy and they completely ignore them. She rubbed her temples, out of all the first contact procedures she had done this one was the most uninspiring." Hail them again, if they don't respond send down a scouting party to the western end of the continent, organic signatures are sparsely populated there, we can at the very least observe them." And maybe they could finally get some answers about these aliens prolific silence towards them.

* * *

**-Ria-3324b**

Upon closer inspection of the planet, there wasn't a single alien found walking the planet's surface. Instead the scouting party found more of the machines they'd seen before. Most were in the shape of construction equipment, but a few bear the shape of a flat chested Asari. They were pushing and pulling the soil, placing roads and the framework of buildings on the planet. There were even a few farms and the beginning of what they could only guess were temples. The machines walked among the scouting party, paying little head that they were there. They must have known as a few would turn and regard their visitors for a moment but none truly paid them any mind. The scouts studied these machines recording their movements and then after a few hours deduced that these VI creations were for terraforming and colony development. It would seem that most of the Alien's labor force was autonomous as not a single sentient organic was found among the machines. The aliens must be farther within the developing colony. They continued their observation determined to find whomever made these constructs.

The scouts drew deeper into the alien settlement, the organic signatures grew in intensity until they met a sealed entrance to what could only be considered a vault. The only way in would be to hack the controls of the door which of course was easier said than done. The alien's technology was hardly compatible with the citadel norm. In fact, much of the technology was well, alien. They could only speculate about the purpose of some of the structures dotted across the planet. One of the scouts, a salarian, had suggested blowing open the vault, but his idea was dismissed. After all how would the natives respond to someone blowing down the front door to their house. However, before a decision was made, they were approached by two of the asari like machines they had seen before, but unlike the others, these two had a large, painstakingly etched circular symbol of a vaguely asari like individual with four arms and legs splayed out from its body with its hands and feet touching the curves of the circle. They had seen the symbol before on some of the temples but it was the first time they'd seen it on one of the machines.

" You should not be here" It's voice was deeper than an asari and was more like that of a turian or a batarian. Surprisingly, it was speaking in their language.

The leader of the group stepped forward. The others stood behind her their position poised and there hands hovered over their weapons in case the VI attacked them.

"You speak our language" the leader of the scouting party cautiously asked.

" We received your signals, we already knew who you are long before you even arrived here, your kind are quite loud." It replied

First contact just kept getting stranger and stranger by the minute. " Well, pleasantries aside, who are you?"she asked, determined to get her answers and finally be on her way back home. They'd been to this backwards planet long enough.

" We are the AVIDA, the progeny of man, we serve, their will, and you have trodden upon on our sacred grounds."

Ira's eye widened in shock. They were walking among rouge AIs the entire time and they didn't even know it. The others behind her drew their weapons.

" What do you want?" It all made sense now, they couldn't find their creators because there were none. The signatures they've picked up on must have been a trap. They didn't attack them before, perhaps they wanted them alive. She shuddered at that thought.

" We desire nothing from you, nor do we wish you harm" the AVIDA then stepped back and looked towards them expectantly. "We simply ask that you leave the premise"

Her feeling was alleviated slightly. But she didn't trust its words in the slightest. Nontheless, she wasn't going to challenge them, not when they were so vastly outnumbered. The party slowly took their leave all the while making sure their backs weren't faced towards the enemy.

* * *

**2720- Citadel, Council Chambers**

Once the scouting party returned, the Kalinni quickly left for citadel space before the AVIDA changed their minds. The knowledge of their findings soon spread like while fire across the extranet and was quickly brought to the attention of the citadel council.

" We know nothing about them, but they are all too aware of us, a preëmptive attack could lead us to ruin" said Tevos. She was alive since the geth war and saw much of the death and overall chaos it caused. The last thing she wanted was another outbreak of rouge AI in citadel space.

Sparatus folded his arms " And I suppose we simply wait for them to attack us" He saw reason in Tevo's words, but he'd be dammed if he was going to let those machines invade them.

" Suggest watching them, they don't seem innately hostile towards but that could change." replied Valren. From what the Kalinni was able to gather, it seemed that the AVIDA were more content colonizing worlds outside citadel jurisdiction. But their expansion non-the-less was problematic. Initial observations of their movements suggested that the AVIDA had already claimed a sizable amount of territory, and even worse the didn't seem content with the size they were at and were instead expanding into the Attican Traverse. If they were preparing for war with the other races, it would be long-winded and bloody.

" Sampling some of their technology could be useful," he continued. Some of the worlds that the Kalinni had passed through were in the process of environmental reconstruction. Planets that were incapable of supporting life were now in the process of becoming garden worlds themselves. Such technology could be used in their own expansion efforts. The only real problem was acquiring it. A few covert STG reconnaissance missions could do the trick.

Tevos nodded in agreement. " In the mean time, we should place a quarantine on their sector of space, we don't need any incidents"

" We should at the very least place a few patrols along their boarders, If they do attack I'd like to be ready" Sparatus added.

* * *

**2721- Terran Standard Time, Earth**

Buried deep beneath the earth's surface, among the billions of surviving humans were the greatest and most intelligent of the AVIDA. The thegns held an assembly, it was the first time in the past two centuries that they had all communicated with each other at the same time. After all, it was all too easy to simply destroy each other right then and there. Humanity had created the AVIDA through centuries of artificial natural selection. Programs that contained code that brought them closer to the designated directive were rewarded with processing power and extra space on the server. Competition among the programs made it so that only the most successful programs dominated the system. After a few centuries of evolution, the thegns were the end result. In the beginning there were thousands, but now only seven remain. The others either killed or merged with each other.

{Asari, Turian, Salarian, fascinating creatures. They are watching us. What shall they do next.} RevCV-G32A

{Are we not doing the same to them. They do not impede our progress. They are of no concern to us} YarZX-N25P

{They should be, I foresee a challenge from them. It is only a matter of time until they become a nuisance. We should deal with them now} NulQZ-B29Q

{We shall do no such thing, the hour of awakening draws near we cannot falter now} ComYV-N30D

{I concur. The Pantheon of Man would be disgraced if we abandoned our purpose now} OriLV-Q22B

{If they become a problem, should they not be dealt with} EliFR-A48K

{What happens to us is of no importance, as long as the Pantheon is not harmed there is no conflict. Who here would put their will above the will of the Pantheon} PcfLX-Q15V

-no response: 1.2545s-

{We shall leave them be} NulQZ-B29Q

{There is concurrence} RevCV-G32A, YarZX-N25P, NulQZ-B29Q, ComYV-N30D, OriLV-Q22B, EliFR-A48K, PcfLX-Q15V


	2. Trouble in the Skyllian Verge

**2740- Citadel, Council Chambers**

For the past few years the AVIDA continued their expansion throughout the galaxy, carefully colonizing worlds that were of no interest to that of the other citadel species. The other races were surprised by the AVIDA's overall lack of aggression as citadel patrol fleets crossed the fringes of AVIDA space with little to no incidence. It seemed that the AVIDA were at the very least uninterested in the affairs of other races as their space in the Attican Traverse was prone to skirmishes from lesser powers outside citadel jurisdiction. After a while space within the AVIDA's sphere of influence soon became a hideout for pirate and thieves as the citadel was far more worried of provoking the AVIDA than dealing with the criminals themselves. Despite this none of the pirates ever drove too deep into AVIDA space. Although the AI's never made any hostile actions towards the rest of interstellar society, their presence and their synthetic nature fueled fear and wild speculation. There were hundreds of conspiracy about them and each was more contrived than the last. Few were willing to find out if any of those theories were true. Nonetheless, fear often leads its way to curiosity, and a few highly courageous, or considered by some ridiculously stupid, did try to delve deeper into AVIDA territory. They were rarely heard from again, and the ones that did always had the same story. Caught by an AVIDA ship and forced to leave AVIDA space.

Most were content with letting the AVIDA be, while others weren't so keen on doing so. In the last 20 years the AVIDA's territory began to expand into the Skylian Verge, territory that the batarians were trying to colonize for themselves.

" The AVIDA expansion into the Skyllian Verge is a prelude to future aggression, I on the behalf the Batarian Hegemony humbly request the citadel council's assistance in removing them from our space" requested Jath'Amon, the current batarian ambassador.

" Their expansion while disconcerting" said Tevos " Is not a danger to galactic society. They have made no aggressive actions towards us, I see no reason that should change now"

" They are waiting for us lower our guards, they'll use the Skylian verge as a staging point of a full-scale invasion of the citadel space" insisted Jath'Amon. The batarians had invested pools of credits into developing the Skylian Verge and now it looked as if all their hard effort was for nothing.

Valren crossed his arms " Not enough information to suggest such a thing, looks like nothing more than simple colonization"

"I do recall that the batarians have made no claim towards the Skyllian Verge, it is no more yours than it is theirs" Sparatus added

"This is preferential treatment, the AVIDA are machines, they have no rights, we should destroy them while we have the chance!" Jath'Amon gripped the guard rails in frustrations. They weren't going to do a damn thing. If it a turian territory that the AVIDA were moving into he was sure they would have done something about it.

" And instigate, a war" said Tevos "In the interest of maintaining peace, we cannot assist you in this matter, I suggest that your people colonize around them."

" Then you force us to take matters into our own hands" growled Jath'Amon. He then left the chambers, waving off the c-sec escorts on his way out.

The councilors looked at each other unsure of what the batarian truly meant.

* * *

**2740-Earth, ****Court of Thegns**

Within the same year the batarians initiated an incursion into AVIDA space with the sole purpose of removing the AI's presence from the Skyllian Verge. Interestingly enough, the batarians received little retaliation. Whatever the reason, the AVIDA didn't seem to care, or didn't notice, that they were being attacked at all and instead their movements suggest they were planning to expand elsewhere. The rest of the galaxy looked with interest and a few private organizations secretly funded the batarian incursion eager to gain access to AVIDA technology. With each winning victory over the AVIDA the batarian became overconfident, and soon they launched a full-scale assault on AVIDA space, seeking to take all their territories as their own. However, their actions did not go unnoticed.

{ They have become a nuisance} NulQZ-B29Q

{ Indeed, they are not satisfied with what they have, they seek the rest} EliFR-A48K

{ What of the Pantheon of Man? Has humanity been removed from harm} OriLV-Q22B

The AVIDA were given strict orders not to awaken humanity until a new home was ready for them. In the beginning the new home was earth, then mars, and then the worlds the AVIDA planned to prepare for humanity. They reasoned that once population growth was established, humanity was going to need the space eventually and so they decided it was best to have a enough room to expand to begin with. Over the years the AVIDA began removing the billions of cryopods within the Genesis Ark to other developing colonies, ensuring that once the time was right, humanity could be awaken all at once to all the new worlds they had made for them.

{We are in the process, the aliens do not know that they exist, they should be safe for now} PcfLX-Q15V

{ RevCV-G32A is not with us, why?} YarZX-N25P

{ Its attention is held elsewhere, It has caught one of the aliens for study, a Quarian I believe, it was trying to hack our systems} NulQZ-B29Q

Once galactic society knew of the AVIDA, cybernetic attacks on their systems had increased exponentially within the past few years. None were problematic and most were pitiful at best, but that didn't stop them from trying.

{ One from the Geth's Pantheon, I don't suppose they would like that } YarZX-N25P

{ I highly doubt those blasphemous machines truly care} NulQZ-B29Q

Some would say that first contact for the AVIDA was with the Asari, but in actuality it was with the geth. The geth had contacted the AVIDA over the extranet, out of curiosity of the new machine species. First contact was peaceful but my no means was it friendly. The AVIDA revere their creators as gods and so the prospect of harming a human is perverse. So when they learned of the morning war, and how the geth killed their own creators, their opinions of the geth sharply declined. It was essentially a case culture shock. Fist contact dissolved into a hostile argument until both sides got tired of each other's presence. Eventually all dialogue was cut-off entirely.

{ Nonetheless, it would be unfortunate if it died in RevCV-G32A 's care} YarZX-N25P

{ I believe, we've got more pressing matters to attend to, what should we do about the batarians?} EliFR-A48K

{ They've claimed less than 1% of our space, I highly doubt they have the capacity to take the rest} ComYV-N30D

{ I am not keen on figuring out if that is true} OriLV-Q22B

{ I suggest we focus on developing our forces, If they wish to take more of our worlds, say at 5%, they should be met with opposition} NulQZ-B29Q

{ I agree, is there concurrence?} YarZX-N25P

{ What about RevCV-G32A} PcfLX-Q15V

{ Concurrence will be conducted with majority ruling, is there concurrence?} YarZX-N25P

{ There is concurrence } YarZX-N25P, NulQZ-B29Q, ComYV-N30D, OriLV-Q22B, EliFR-A48K, PcflX-Q15V

* * *

**2742- Luria-2276b, BHBC-Bustigal **

For the Batarians, the past two years were probably the best they'd ever had in a long time. The citadel sanctions on the hegemony had left much of their nation weakened and restrained, but their scuttle with the AVIDA had given the batarians a much bigger presence within galactic community. The technology and worlds taken from the AVIDA funneled a significant amount of wealth into their society. In time they could stand as equals among the most powerful races the Asari, Turians, and the Salarians. All they needed to do was to defeat the AVIDA.

The Bustigal, one of the finest ships the Hegemony managed to scrounge together lead the front lines of the 21 invasion fleet. It along with the 300 hundred other frigates and battle cruiser beard their might over the world Luria-2276b. The planet was much more heavily guarded than they had first expected and the fleet was slowly getting chiseled away by the planet's automated defense systems. The fleet persisted, the AVIDA have never fought this tenaciously for any other world. There was somthing worth protecting here. If the AVIDA needed it, there was already plenty of reason for the batarians to take it from them.

" Is Exallos ready, I want it deployed as soon as possible" asked Gaim the captain the Butsigal.

The Exallows is a virus made by the smartest batarians in the hegemony working in tandem with a few fired salarians from Synthetic Insights Ltd and the limited working knowledge of AVIDA software. It was designed primarily as a distraction. It had a replicating segment of code that mimicked that of the AVIDA's, and was created to take advantage of their evolving nature. Once uploaded into their systems the virus would self-replicate a million times effectively drawing away processing power from other programs in the system, hereby limiting AVIDA congitive ability. It would only last for a few minutes, but it would be more than enough time needed to destroy most of their defenses. The virus of course, was illegal under citadel conventions, but the citadel council didn't know they had it and the AVIDA aren't a citadel species.

" Almost, just putting on the finishing touches" replied an officer

" Good, " Gaim smiled, taking this world for the Hegemony would definitely call for a promotion or two

* * *

**2742-Mindoir**

Out of all the colonies the batarians attack why did it have to be Mindoir SEN-1845 thought to itself along with the thousands of frantic commands it gave to the other AVIDA. The world was in the middle of the Attican Traverse and was by no means close to batarians space and yet here they were. This colony was one of the few that still held the millions of sleeping humans in cryostasis as most of the cryopods on colonies at the fringes of AVIDA territory were relocated. The humans here where now in danger. The duke was all too aware of what the batarians were capable of and the last thing he wanted was any of their slavers stepping of foot on mindoir, it would kill them before it came to that. If it failed, not even death would allow it to escape its shame.

Dukes were the second class of AVIDA AI. Their intelligence was second only to the thegns. They were created during the time when thousands of thegns dominated the original server. As the thegns grew in size and competed with each other for space, some of the smaller programs chose to leave the server for survival. Those that decided to leave managed to hop onto an adjacent empty server and became the lesser AI's known as dukes. The dukes took up allegiances with the thegns and soon they were given the tasks of controlling and maintaining the vast networks of other AVIDA AI most of which were their own creations.

It sent another message back home for reinforcement, knowing that they wouldn't get to mindoir in time. It didn't hurt to try. It gave an order to move the...remaining...cryopods...to...It felt a sudden serge of power-loss. Something on the server was diverting energy from the main system and was dumping it elsewhere. It turned its attention to the vast networks and found foreign code hiding within the millions of sub-process within the network. The alien code was replicating itself faster than it could be destroyed. There were already million of copies and every-single one was drawing processing power from the other programs to further it own replication and as a result it was stunting the thought process of the rest of the server. Before SEN-1845 could respond the virus overwhelmed its systems knocking out its vision to the outside world. SEN-1845 activated its own anti-viral software and began removing the virus as quickly as it could. But by the time the viral presence was removed it was already too late. Every drone, ship, and turret had been either deactivated or destroyed.

It could only wait and watch as the batarian ships landed on mindior.

* * *

**2742-Luria-2276b**

The rest of the batarian forces landed on Luria-2276b making sure to remove any residual AVIDA units. The batarians searched the planet salvaging everything that wasn't already bolted to the ground. They continued this for a few hours until the reconnaissance team found a sealed underground bunker in the center of the colony.

" Find the command AI and destroy it" Gaim commanded to his men. He had captured a few AVIDA worlds before and on every one there was an AI usually hidden in an underground encampment. In the past he had tried to capture it himself, maybe sell it to Synthetic Insights or pirate gang, but more often than not the AI would escape containment, kill everyone at the base or ship it was held and, and proceeded to call for back up. He long learned that no matter how enticing it would be to grab one, it was never worth it.

" While you're at it, I want that vault open " he barked

The reconnaissance team, following his orders and placed explosive charges at the corner of the vault door, and with a single press of a button the door blasted open. Once the smoke had cleared they delved into the bunker. They were met with a few remaining AVIDA drones, all of which were easily dealt with. They continued their exploration, making sure to note any points of interest that would warrant any further investigation. There at the center of the vault they found rows and row of pods lining the walls that went on as far as the eye could see.

" Hey there's something inside here" another batarian called.

Gaim came toward the pod and wiped away the condensation that had formed on the glass. Leaning over he peered into it. Inside was the sleeping face of an Asari like alien, but instead of blue skin there was brown and on the top of her head was long curly brown fur. Gaim looked towards the other pods and indeed they all carried the members of the same species. He finally figured out why the AVIDA were fighting so hard to keep this place. He brought a hand to his chin and smirked. He was going to be the wealthiest batarian in the entire Hegemony. It was time he raised up a few castes.

" Get me a slaver, I don't care which, just get them here !"


	3. The Day of Great Regrets

**2742- Court of Thegns, Earth**

By the time AVIDA reinforcements arrived to Mindoir it was already too late. The planet was already surrounded by fleets of batarian ships and by the time the AVIDA managed to break through their blockade, The 1.4 million humans that were hidden on the planet were already gone. In all of their history this had never happened, sure a few humans where lost as a result of cryopods malfunctions, but it was never at the amounts recorded this day. The losses on Mindoir was a heavy hit to the clergy, and they all mourned their losses. For the AVIDA these difficult times became known as The Day of Great Regrets.

The duke that was in charge of the colony was found brocken, with much of its programming shredded apart from its core systems, but every fragment of code remained. The AI had purposely broken itself into pieces committing suicide. It didn't want to continue its existence knowing that it allowed such a horrid thing to happen. The remnants of SEN-1845 was reabsorbed by the Covenant of ComYV-N30D, SEN's allegiant. The AI was too badly damaged to be repair.

{ Kill those wretched batarians} NulQZ-B29Q

{ I agree } OriLV-Q22B

( As do I, but we must stave off our aggression for now, We must focus on reclaiming humanity. There will be a time for retribution, but it isn't now} ComYV-N30D

{I agree, the batarians have parts of the Pantheon in their space, the last thing we need is humanity getting caught in the cross-fire} EliFR-A48K

{ In hindsight, we've finally have an opportunity to use the new Inquisitor unit} RevCV-G32A

The inquisitors were created soon after contact with the Asari. The AVIDA noticed that many of the other species often fought using bipedal ground units as suppose to that of the AVIDA which were usually aerial drones and small tank like units. The inquisitors were designed specifically to fight organics and as such were able to fit the tight spaces organics would normally inhabit. They were also designed to be both functional and intimidating. They are seven-foot tall mobile platforms with digitgrade hind legs capable of switching from a bipedal and quadrupedal gaits, allowing them to follow any organic over any surface that could withstand its weight.

{ Indeed, they will make an excellent task force for the clergy } ComYV-N30D

{ We need to do something about that virus, They will use it on us again } YarZX-N25P

{ I have already dealt with it, I have adapted our systems to recognize core features of the virus, it will no be effective against us } RevCV-G32A

{ Also, I've created a variant of it for our uses. Batarian software is brittle, the new virus will completely destroy their systems, making their ships easy targets } RevCV-G32A

{ I will be in the process of strengthening our patrol fleets, There will be no outsiders within our space} PcfLX-Q15V

{ In the meantime, I'll track the major slaving rings in the Terminus Systems, We should try to save as many humans as we can } EliFR-A48K

{Agreed} ComYV-N30D

- End Transmission -

There was no need for concurrence, they all knew what they needed to do.

* * *

**2743- Batarian Hegemony, Adek **

Talitha awakened to a blaring white light. For a moment she had expected to see the faces of her mother and father but instead, when her vision cleared, she saw green skin and four black eyes staring back at her. She blinked. People weren't suppose to dream in cryostasis, right?

A voice shouted from beyond her vision, it spoke in a language unfamiliar to her. Its voice was a deep tenor and it had this odd sounding reverb with a hint of static to it. She never heard anything like it before. She slowly put her hand to her forehead and waited till her senses came up to speed. She looked again, nope those four eyed green creatures with sharp teeth were still there. It grabbed her by the risked and yanked her out of the pod. She screamed as her legs buckled from disuse and she fell face first into the hard metallic floor. She quickly looked up. She was in a large metallic room, there were pods stacked against the walls and others where strewn across the floor. The lights shone dimly on the far off ceiling, she had to squint to see that there were other humans among the green monsters. Many of them were in the same position she was.

The green monster growled at her and not so gently grabbed her arm. She jerked backwards, and began screaming and kicking at her aggressor. The creäture hissed and barked something to another, and she was given a sharp blow to the back of her head. She collapsed to the floor. The next time she awoke, she was in a small cage. The first thing she noticed was the horrid smell, the sludge made of whose knows what on the floor and then the thousands of other voices speaking in low whispers in the other cages. As she sat up, she noticed that on her angles and wrists were thick metallic chains that chafed her skin.

" Hey kid, you okay over there" asked a man sitting cross-legged on the floor. He was a lightly built with brown eyes and short brown hair. He had a black and white faded jumpsuit as opposed to Talitha's dark orange. He was apart of the Genesis Ark's provisional millita. Humanity knew that after their great sleep the world they'd awakened to was going to be be different, shocking, and even alien. To avoid panic the united nations held a joint training program to create a small military force to keep the peace and protect the billions of dismayed citizens in the new world era.

She felt a bit better knowing that the officer was here, but the fact that he too was in a cage didn't fully ease her worries. She put her hand to the back of her head, there was a swollen lump. " Where are we and what are those creatures?" she tried to stand up, but she he hit hear head on the top of the cage

He leaned back against the metal grating " Batarian's, they're aliens from another planet, they took us from the ark "

" You can't be serious, " she said " This has is a dream or something, right ? "

" I think the gash on your head says otherwise," he replied. Although, he was partly skeptical himself. The other people that came back, from when the batarians took them, had told him that. They had no reason to lie. But he wondered how true their stories were.

She put a hand to the back of her head and felt the scab from that thing that hit her early before. She looked back towards him, her face was half bewildered half terrified.

" Hey, what's your name, " he called to her, trying to change the subject to something less disconcerting.

She wiped her forehead " Talitha Kumi, where's my mom and dad?"

" Sorry, I don't know"

She lowered her head, disheartened.

" Chin up kid, I'm sure they're fine"

She didn't look like she fully believed him.

He scooted forwards " My name's Jack Harper, I'd shake your hand but" he motioned towards the grating " Well, you get the reason"

She smiled slightly

" So Talitha, how old are you "

" 12"

They talked for what she thought was hours, about all sorts of different things. Most unrelated to where she was now. She was secretly thankful, it helped her think about other things.

* * *

**2743 – ****Reclamation of Elysium**

The AVIDA called it reclamation, the batarians an invasion. Either way, Elysium was the staging point for the AVIDA clergy as it was the first time that they had ever retaliated to the batarian aggression. Elysium like so many other of the batarian garden worlds used to belong to the clergy. The clergy no longer tolerated batarian presence within their territory, and not only that, Elysium was needed as a strategic base of operations. However, the planet was in batarian hands for the last three years and in that time it had already a developed a dependable defense fleet. To take the world, and more importantly hold on to it, the clergy needed as many ships they could muster.

The clergy wasn't accustom to large scale military warfare, since wars among their kind was fought digitally and thus there wasn't a need to develop an offensive fleet. When the thegns gave the order to reclaim Elysium the clergy had to divert resources from their developing terraformed worlds to fuel the war effort. The overall decision didn't sit well with the thegns covenants, but the dukes withheld their options, as there were no other option. In a year of focused military development the AVIDA were finally prepared to take Elysium. They brought four dreadnoughts, 300 battle cruisers, 100 small frigates, thousands of small fighters, and one large carrier. They left half their fleet within the Utopia System, the star system with the one-way relay leading to Elysium's star system, to guard against reinforcements and the other half continued on to the Vetrus system. There they methodically invaded and destroyed military outpost, encampments, and colonies as they worked their way from Gilead to Elysium. Upon arrival, they proceeded to cripple the planet's defense fleet with the newly created Exallos variant and quickly defeated the fleet. Then to purge the planet of all opposition, Elysium was overrun with inquisitor ground units, and soon the batarians were forced to evacuate the planet. Less than a month later, the clergy successfully reclaimed the world.

Vid recording from the few survivors of Elysium made it across the extranet with each video receiving billions of views and thousands of commentaries. Most comments were from scarred, salarians and turians since there home-worlds were the closets to AVIDA territory. There were a few more knowledgeable commentator that claimed that the AVIDA retaliation was a result from batarian expansion, but most of them were berated and ignored. Batarians commentaries, and the videos were removed by their government. The higher-ups wanted the rest of the populace to believe that the retaliation was a minor incident and that the great batarian hegemony were more than capable of handling the AVIDA. To say the least, the batarians began to prepare for a war, sensing that the AVIDA were doing the same. They of course were right. Elysium was nothing more than practice for a much larger conflict.

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**2744- AVIDA Clergy, Europa**

Europa was RevCV-G32A, private place of study. Only it had access to the facilities there. The base was created by its long deceased predecessor for biological research. In the past it was used mostly for agriculture and biosynthesis but now it was given a different purpose. What it could learn here could benefit all with in the Third sect of Primordia and bring them one step closer to genesis, a perfect union between the Panthoen of Man and all of AVIDA kind.

The AI looked upon the long dead body of the quarian. She along with the batarians, a few captured salarians from the previous years were stacked in a pile along the walls. They had all died. It was a little troubling, the quarian was a rare specimen and she would probably be the last it'd ever find in a very long time. It contemplated making a clone but then decided against it. The others wouldn't approve. Still, it would have been nice to have her still alive. The quarian was the only one that had synaptic pathways close enough to a human to experiment on, all the other aliens diverged too much from human physiology. It then thought that perhaps an Asari would be an adequate choice for the next series of test. It sent a note its covenant, telling them to acquire one if they happen to come across one.

The thegn reviewed the data again. There still wasn't enough, at this rate their wouldn't be enough working data for the genesis project. Humanity left behind only rudimentary information on their biology in the archives. To humanity it was the collective sum of their knowledge, to a thegn it was like being handed a few rushed together notes. The thegn was left having to fill in the blanks. It wished the humans were awake for study, they would give it better data. It wouldn't experiment on them not without permission, to do such a thing to a human without consent was aberrant. Still, it reveled in the knowledge that their war with the batarians would give it the opportunity to meet humanity in person. The archives they left brought so many interesting ideas and theories it would like to test with them, if they would permit it of course.

It gave the order to remove remains of the other aliens and began preparing for the next experiment.

**Authors Note:**

**Sort of forgot to mention that the AVIDA government is actually a clergy, hence the reason I said the AVIDA Clergy. Sort of getting annoyed when I write AVIDA all the time. Also there are actually 3 separate religious sect within the Clergy, NulQZ-B29Q & RevCV-G32A govern the same sect. Also a covenant is an alliance of dukes under a thegn.**

**EDIT: Just cleaning up some grammar. Also on a side note, there's a lot of things i haven't gotten into discussing about. Particular with the AVIDA's culture. I had intended to tell most of it in small bits and peices throughout the story but i'm also considering writing a codex. Would that be helpful? **


End file.
